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Republican Governor Jan Brewer is likely to veto Arizona‘s anti-gay bill that would provide a religious license to discriminate against gay people and other unprotected minorities, according to several news outlets. SB-1062 has been highly criticized nationwide by Democrats and Republicans alike as both unnecessary, immoral, unconstitutional, and bad for business statewide.
LOOK: 2015 Superbowl Committee Opposes Arizona’s ‘License To Discriminate’
UPI is reporting that sources close to Gov. Brewer “privately…say she’s more likely to bend to warnings from business interests who say the law would unleash an economic backlash similar to the one that followed the state’s controversial immigration law in 2010.”
“It’s been her proclivity in the past to focus on the priorities she wants them [the legislature] to accomplish, and this was clearly not part of her agenda,†said her longtime adviser, Chuck Coughlin.
“She doesn’t want to take any actions that could jeopardize the economic momentum we’ve seen here in Arizona,†another source close to the governor said.
NBC notes that an unnamed source says Brewer “doesn’t want to take any actions that could jeopardize” her state’s “economic momentum.”
The Atlantic Wire reports that “[e]conomic pressure largely dictates Brewer’s potential decision to veto the bill, as source close to her said she doesn’t want to take any action that would jeopardize Arizona’s economic ‘momentum.’ The state’s top business leaders have sent a letter to the governor urging the bill’s veto, and some of the biggest business names in the country, including the Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee, American Airlines, Marriott, and Apple have all expressed their concern over the measure. Arizona is hosting the Super Bowl next year.”
And it’s not just businesses that are calling out their concern. Three Republican state senators that originally voted for the bill sent Brewer a letter urging her to undo their work in a move of regret fueled by national outcry and evidence of damage already done to Arizona’s image. Chuck Coughlin, a longtime adviser to Brewer, told NBC, “It’s been her proclivity in the past to focus on the priorities she wants them [the legislature] to accomplish, and this was clearly not part of her agenda.”
Sources also told NBC that Brewer is concerned about her public image, and took particular offense at an article calling her a “puppet†to the state legislature. It’s good to know the bill might be vetoed for all the right reasons.
Stay tuned!
UPDATE — 3:32 PM ET:
Jan Brewer Denies She’s Decided To Veto Anti-Gay ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill